


Time's Twilight

by Allerleirauh



Category: Sapphire and Steel
Genre: Apocalypse, Community: trope_bingo, Ficlet, Gen, Immortality, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-11
Updated: 2013-05-11
Packaged: 2017-12-11 13:06:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/799065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allerleirauh/pseuds/Allerleirauh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ruby and Sapphire — together they move under time’s twilight, keeping each other company and wondering if there will be a new dawn.</p><p>beta: <a href="http://lost-spook.dreamwidth.org/"><b>lost_spook</b></a></p>
            </blockquote>





	Time's Twilight

Ruby waits. She’s standing on a cliff that overlooks a wide plain of molten rock. It’s a nameless planet she has chosen, one of the last still in existence, one of those still holding together before the end. The colours of this world are all brown and black, with angry shades of red springing up everywhere there is fire, leaking and leaping up from the devastation. The red is a pleasing sight. It’s her colour after all, and she feels no remorse in choosing this place, for being selfish one last time. The air around her is a wavering mass of heat, carrying smoke and flames and veils of ash that have killed every other living being long ago, yet she doesn’t care. Why should she?

A slight shift draws her attention away from the view in front of her. She isn’t alone any more. _There you are,_ she thinks, her greeting as warm and intimate as ever.

Words are no longer possible here, but that doesn’t matter. They don’t need words, have never really needed them, and especially here and now spoken words would feel out of place between them.

~~~

 _Here I am_ , Sapphire replies, relieved she has made it.

A little while ago she wasn't so sure. She briefly considered giving into her sadness and letting go. Yet it isn’t in her nature to break a promise, and she has promised Ruby she would come. She promised they would face this together. She just wishes it wasn't only the two of them.

 _The others?_ Ruby asks her, uncannily mirroring her thoughts.

 _No more._ Only two words, but they are more than enough, so filled with inherent meaning they seem to be overflowing with it. Silver and Steel, they are both gone already. She has watched them vanish and it broke her heart.

She doesn’t return the question. Ruby was alone when Sapphire arrived and that told her everything she needs to know, making it unnecessary to ask about the fate of Ruby’s companions.

 _Bronze and Gold, they ended just a little while ago,_ Ruby tells her nonetheless, her mental voice sounding as solemn as Sapphire feels.

There may not be the need to ask, Sapphire realises, but there may be the need to tell, to give testimony of the passing of ones held dear. She understands. Saying her companions names, even if it’s only a whispered thought directed at her sister’s mind is a last way of remembrance, but an important one.

 _Silver and Steel, I miss them_ , she thinks, following Ruby’s example. It’s an invocation of memory. She looks at Ruby, her mind overflowing with grief.

~~~

Ruby looks back and she smiles. It’s a sad little smile, yet there’s a hint of defiance lingering at its edges. How fitting it is that it ends with the two of them – sisters in corundum. Having lost those who were closest to them, they are now reduced to their essential form, reduced to their most basic origins. She reaches out, brushes against Sapphire, offering at least the comfort of a fate shared, even if there cannot be any true consolation.

 _Not long now, sister_ , she thinks, the notion casting bitter sweet echoes in both their minds.

The thought gives her pause as an old question, a question she has never cared to ask before, claims her attention. She considers it, weighing it carefully, but if she wants to pose it at all there won’t be a better time.

 _Sapphire?_ she inquires, her voice so hesitant and soft. _What do you think?_ Her thoughts stumble slightly as she delicately searches for the best way to express what is burdening her mind. _I’m wondering about— after. Will it just end? Or—?_ She doesn’t finish her question, but falls silent, painfully aware of her unusual clumsiness. Her discomfort vanishes, however, when she sees Sapphire’s smile.

 _Time’s Twilight_ , Sapphire answers, choosing a phrase that has been used among the Elements for some time now.

Ruby remembers. The expression became fashionable once the first definite signs began to show, signs that the universe was finally growing old, and that the seemingly unending procession of aeons might eventually come to an end. They always knew that it was inevitable, but in this they have been just like any other living being. It’s easier to believe in one’s immortality than to accept that one’s days are numbered.

 _I always liked the idea of Time as a Mistress,_ Sapphire continues. _Steel always rolled his eyes when I mentioned it, of course, but Silver tended to smile and say he’d really like to meet her in person one day._

Ruby chuckles quietly. _He’s always been such a flirt._

 _Yes, he was,_ Sapphire replies, growing very still until Ruby starts to fear she might already have left.

 _Sapphire?_ she inquires, her thoughts swirling in sudden alarm.

~~~

They are very close now, and Sapphire feels Ruby’s distress immediately. _I’m here, Ruby. I’m sorry. I was just thinking—._ She pauses, and then her thoughts change, becoming stronger once again. _I always liked the idea of Time as a Mistress, and there is more to that idea, more than you might know._ She needs to collect her thoughts, and so she falls silent once again, yet this time she makes certain that Ruby knows the reason. Being here is becoming increasingly difficult and even just thinking is slowly turning into a labour.

Eventually she picks up her tale. _Yes, Time is a Mistress, but what is her purpose? Have you ever wondered about that?_ She waits and isn’t surprised at Ruby’s silent negation, her prompt to continue. _Think about it, Ruby, maybe Time came into existence destined to figure it all out._

For a while Ruby’s thoughts are nothing but a swirl of unarticulated confusion. Her eventual answer is almost a plea. _I don’t understand_ , she thinks, and now there’s genuine fear clouding her mind.

Is it fear for Sapphire, for herself, or possibly for both of them? Sapphire doesn’t know, but she reacts at once. Returning Ruby’s earlier gesture, she brushes close, moves even closer and pulls them together as tight as she can, until they are almost one, their consciousness blending to an extent they’ve never shared before.

 _I think it’s a lovely idea_ , she continues. _Imagine our Mistress, always moving forward, moving the universe itself, never stopping, searching for meaning, trying to figure out the reason for it all. I’ve always pictured her so tall and strong and beautiful in her gait._

 _But what about us?_ Ruby asks. _Where do we fit into that picture? What role are we playing in that search?_ She is intrigued, but still hesitant.

Sapphire’s smile widens. I _believe it’s been our duty to keep her on track, to make certain she wouldn’t stumble or lose herself following wrong turns. It’s been our task to smoothen her path, healing the breaks that inevitably occurred every once in a while._

_~~~_

Ruby considers the image that Sapphire is painting. She’s surprised by the feeling of deep contentment she senses coming from Sapphire. She’s also confused. The whole concept feels so very alien. It completely contradicts so much of what she’s been told to believe until now, but most importantly it doesn’t answer her question. _Fine_ , she thinks cautiously, _but what about after?_

This time Sapphire’s mind erupts into laughter, not exuberant, but quiet and gentle as rain at the end of a hot summer’s day, and yet startling in its vibrancy.

 _Oh, Ruby_. Her mental voice rings with amusement. _Do you really believe she’s already fulfilled her destiny? Do you think she’s reached the end of her path?_ She pauses for a while.

I _for one, most certainly don’t think so._ I _believe that this ending is merely a pause in her search. Everything must come to an end, until our Mistress stands alone. I imagine she will take a long look back at the path lying behind her, and then, Ruby, then she will take a deep breath, and she will turn, and she will begin a new journey, and while I cannot be sure that there will be a place for us to accompany her once again, I choose to believe that there will be, if only because travelling on your own is such a lonely endeavour._

The silence that follows her words feels very long. Around them it is getting darker.

 _Thank you_ , Ruby finally whispers.

 _You’re welcome_ , Sapphire replies.

~~~

They are so very tired now. Simply existing is fast becoming too taxing for their dwindling strength. In their current state of almost-fusion questions have become superfluous, as there is no longer any need for answers. They wait only a little while longer, taking a last look at the dying planet and beyond, looking out at the universe, its fiery collapse growing ever faster with each passing second.

 _It is time_ , they say and they let go.


End file.
